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Cited by 1,897Innovation and Knowledge ManagementManagement and Organizational PracticesHuman Resource and Talent Management

Research Note: How Valuable are Organizational Capabilities?

Collis, David J.·1994·Strategic Management Journal
DOI 10.1002/smj.4250150910
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Abstract

Organizational capabilities, appropriately defined, can meet the conditions, articulated by the resource-based view of the firm, for being a source of sustainable competitive advantage. However, this paper observes that there are limits to the extent of the importance of such capabilities. They are vulnerable to threats of erosion, substitution, and above all to being superseded by a higher-order capability of the ‘learning to learn’ variety. This suggests that there can be an infinite regress in the explanation for, and prediction of, sustainable competitive advantage. The problem is resolved by arguing that the value of organizational capabilities is context dependent, and by recognizing that the strategy field will never find the ultimate source of sustainable competitive advantage.

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  • The inertia problem can pertain not only to an organization's zero-order capabilities but to its dynamic capabilities as well, since routine-based organizational change tends to favor local adaptations.

    “Importantly, it can pertain not only to an organization's zero-order capabilities but to its dynamic capabilities as well, since routine-based organizational change tends to favor local adaptations (Collis, 1994;Levinthal, 1997;Schreyögg and Kliesch-Eberl, 2007).”

    From On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism (2014) · cites this paper as Collis, 1994

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Authors
Collis, D. J.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Collis, David J.
Venue
Strategic Management Journal
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1994
Volume
15
Issue
S1
Pages
143-152
ISSN
  • 0143-2095 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0266
DOI
10.1002/smj.4250150910
OpenAlex
W2032696994
Cited by
1,897
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 51 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 100 · 2021: 93 · 2020: 84 · 2019: 93 · 2018: 100 · 2017: 75 · 2016: 89 · 2015: 94 · 2014: 100 · 2013: 117 · 2012: 90
FWCI
19.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 7913 d)
Locations
Strategic Management Journal (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Management and Organizational Practices
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Human Resource and Talent Management
Keywords
organizational capabilities, resource-based view, sustainable competitive advantage, meta-learning, context sensitivity, infinite regress

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